


The Things They Learned

by Oakwyrm



Category: Thrilling Intent (Web Series)
Genre: Anniversary, Fluff, Kissing at Midnight, Multi, it's so fucking sappy why am I doing this?, pure fluff, so sweet like this will actually rot your teeth out trust me I wrote it, things get contemplative in the middle of the night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 15:51:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7514221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oakwyrm/pseuds/Oakwyrm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the night of the eve of their one year anniversary Ashe, Thog and Markus all take moments to contemplate their partners and the relationship so far. What they have learned and how they have grown closer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Things They Learned

**Author's Note:**

> Oh god what am I doing with my life?
> 
> I should be writing Siblings. But I'm kind of frustrated there isn't a lot of fanfic about these three as a triad so... this happened instead.  
> ...
> 
> (I really should be writing Siblings)

The night was dark around three figures peacefully sleeping side by side. Well, perhaps some were less asleep than others. Markus sat quietly next to Ashe's sleeping form, looking over her and Thog with a small smile on his face. They looked so peaceful, curled around each other like that. Slowly he reached out and ran his fingers through Ashe's white hair.

It was, as ever, unbelievably soft beneath his hand. Like a little piece of heaven had decided to land on her head one day. He laughed, imagining what would happen if he ever told her that. He could make a pretty educated guess since whenever he tried to flatter her he'd get like one line out before she was kissing him to hide how red her face had gotten. It wasn't something he'd expected but Aesling, apparently, couldn't handle flattery.

She was graceful, yes, but that was in her movements, not social interaction. She moved with a kind of fluid grace that made his heart stutter and his legs weak. Especially when she swam or climbed. Opposite ends of the spectrum, maybe, but they were clearly things she had done all her life.

A memory of a night, much like this one, when she'd gone missing came back to him. He and Thog had found her, some hours later, in a tree that overlooked the sea. They had decided not to disturb her, both too in awe of her tranquil beauty to break the peace of the moment. She had noticed them, of course, a few seconds later, but it was a moment he would treasure forever.

Markus eyes moved on from Ashe to Thog where he quietly slumbered. The light of the moon that shone through the window seemed to almost soak into his skin. If there was such a thing as getting a tan from the moon Thog would probably be giving off some kind of mystical moonlight aura by the end of the week. Quite early on, before their relationship even started, Markus had learned two things. Emotions were not Thog's strong suite and his scars were more than physical. With him, reading between the lines was key to understanding him. Which had put some bumps in the road to their relationship but they had, obviously, gotten over the majority of them.

Markus thought back to the previous year. He remembered a cold evening, when autumn was first turning into winter and Thog had gone outside. When he didn't return for half an hour and the sun had completely set Markus had gone to look for him. He'd found him alone on the roof and the memory still filled him with a quiet, low sort of ache in his chest. He hadn't spoken and he'd almost slipped back down to the ground when Thog spoke up. It had surprised Markus at the time as Thog had obviously gone up there to just not have to think about anything for a bit. Just to breathe and let the cold autumn air seep into him.

Ashe had found them a few minutes later and convinced them to come in out of the cold. By that time Thog was already nodding off and Ashe had to half carry him off the roof. Markus would have offered to do it but he wasn't the best when it came to physical strength. In retrospect it was a very good memory and a moment that felt significant despite its simplicity. He really would do just about anything to make sure they had as many reasons as possible to smile. A sudden yawn crawled out of his throat and he sank back down onto the bed, gently nuzzling against Ashe's shoulder. She shifted somewhat in her sleep but other than that didn't seem to react.

Ashe on the other hand smiled softly to herself when Markus lay down again. She'd been starting to consider telling him to lay down and go to sleep already. It was late after all and he needed rest as much as she and Thog did. Though that may have been mildly hypocritical seeing as she wasn't asleep either. The comforting warmth of Markus and Thog near her was almost enough to make her fall asleep on the spot, though. Even with the ever present danger of Markus wiggling around during the night and poking her with one of his horns. Not that she minded that much it was just mildly uncomfortable.

There were a couple things she had learned about Markus since she started dating him and Thog. Apart from the fact that he liked to embarrass her through flattery. His smile was more infectious now than ever before, for one. Small habits had become more noticeable too, like the way he would sometimes subtly move his hands to the tune in his head. Or not so subtly. She was rather sure he wasn't aware of that he did it. It had also become abundantly clear that, whatever he might say to the contrary, he didn't really know how to ask for help. She often had to sit him down and convince him to tell her what was bothering him. For someone who was so supportive and persistently insistent on his friends opening up and talking about things that weren't working he had a bit of a hard time taking his own advice.

Markus was... he was safe. She couldn't say why precisely but she didn't think she had to. True he did quite often manage to push every single button she had but she couldn't deny that, as incredibly corny as it may sound, Markus was someone who was safe and warm. She knew that Thog agreed with her despite the fact that he might never verbally admit it.

Thog, she had found, had very expressive eyes. Despite any likeness they may or may not hold to lifeless, horrible dead fish eyes. Though that might just be because of her close connection to him as when she's made an offhand comment of that nature to Inien the witch had looked at her like she'd grown a second head. She was also pretty sure no one would believe her, save for Markus of course, if she told them Thog softened considerably around small animals. It had taken a little time for him to do the same around Charoth but he'd gotten there eventually.

Her hand tightened a little around his. He didn't react aside from shifting slightly. It might have sounded a little strange but there was something strangely mesmerizing about Thog's hands. Hands could tell stories, Thog's were no different. Callouses on his trigger finger and various scars. Each told its own tale. Better yet was the stories he himself would read after they established the habit of Thog reading books aloud whenever they had the opportunity.

She opened her eyes slowly to look at him. It was light enough that she could make out his features. With his hair down like this Thog really was ridiculously adorable. To the point that it was almost disconcerting. She shifted slightly so she was more laying on her back and felt herself begin to drift. Her last thought that night was a quiet sort of realization. That she would tear the world apart and set the sky ablaze if it would keep her chosen family safe.

Once Ashe's breathing became even in the way that told Thog without a doubt that she was asleep he got to his feet. Stretching and ignoring the way his tired brain was making his head spin he headed out the door and down towards the shore. Taking a seat on one of the large boulders that looked out over the water he ran a hand over his face, trying to collect himself. He breathed in the cool night air, pushing his hair back only for it to fall back into his face. Being that it was the middle of summer the air wasn't quite his preferred of autumn but it was still good for clearing his head. The sound of the waves on the shore didn't exactly hurt either.

An entire year. He didn't think he'd been as happy as he had been in the past year for a very long time. He leaned back against the stone cliff face behind him and stared up at the stars. Ashe and Markus side by side looked like one of those obnoxiously beautiful couples that would have annoyed him had he not been part of the equation. He had been somewhat surprised to learn that Ashe was an emotional crier, tough he supposed it made sense. Her emotions had always been intense, it made sense that she'd be easily brought to tears. Of course she practically never let those tears fall but that was a different subject.

Markus could be a surprisingly calming presence, provided he wasn't doing anything liable to get them all killed. The two also fit together well when it came to the creative arts. Markus was very musically inclined and Ashe... well her voice in song kind of made Thog suspect she might actually be a siren. He breathed out slowly. It was safe to say that even with a year behind him he was still not used to the intensity of his own emotions when it came to those two. He would give up everything he had, including his life, to insure their happiness. Well, he wouldn't really since realistically he knew they would never be happy if he did that but it was the thought that counted.

“Thog?” Markus' voice broke through the silence, causing Thog to turn a bit too quickly and fall off the boulder. “Holy-! Fuck, are you OK?” Markus hurried around the boulder to where Thog was lying, wincing and rubbing the back of his head.

“I'm fine, why are you awake?” he asked, getting to his feet. Markus laughed.

“Ashe may have elbowed me in the side,” he said. “And I noticed you weren't in bed so I figured you'd be out here,” he looked out over the sea, letting the sound of the waves be the only noise for a while.

“Worried about me?” Thog asked, leaning back against the boulder.

“Maybe,” Markus teased. “Think it's midnight yet?” he asked suddenly. Thog looked up at the moon, trying to glean the time of night.

“Probably,” he said, even as a yawn managed to crawl out of his throat. Markus grinned.

“Happy anniversary, then,” he said, bending down slightly to give Thog a soft kiss. Thog straightened, pushing away from the boulder and wrapping his arms around Markus' waist. The tiefling laughed softly breaking the kiss to lean his forehead against Thog's.

“This is unbelievably sappy,” Thog grumbled, which only made Markus laugh more. A short clearing of the throat made them look over at Ashe, standing on the pathway down to the beach.

“This is also midnight,” she pointed out. “We can celebrate in the morning,” she walked down to them, leaning slightly against Thog's shoulder.

“It's unusual for you to suggest getting proper sleep,” Markus pointed out. She rolled her eyes, gently shoving her head against his shoulder.

“Haha,” she said, though she was a little too tired to actually make it sound sarcastic.

“Yeah lets get back to bed,” Thog agreed, putting an arm around her just in case she decided to fall asleep on the way back.

**Author's Note:**

> That ending is actually relevant because it was midnight when I finished writing this and I am so tired.


End file.
